Chris Trotter on the Te Tai Tokerau by-election:
WHEN WILL THEY EVER LEARN? Listening to Labour’s Kelvin Davis putting the boot into Hone Harawira and Mana on Radio New Zealand this morning, I was reminded of the petty viciousness that also attended the birth of the NewLabour Party in 1989.And its the same tone that Trotter has consistently deployed against the Mana Party and its advocates (and indeed, anyone on the left other than Labour). While I'm glad to see he's changed his mind, an intellectually honest man would acknowledge it.It was all there: the same overweening arrogance; the same blithe assumption that only the Labour Party has anything to contribute to the development of progressive politics in New Zealand. And, worst of all, the same sneering, belittling, mocking and disparaging tone.
It was the tone Labour adopted 22 years ago to deride and undermine Jim Anderton. Now it was being deployed against Hone Harawira.